Page 66 of Just a Heartbeat Away

He felt some of his rising giddiness pinprick away into the air. Of course. She cooked for Evan the Supermodel.Ponytail-having bastard.

“Fin comes over most nights to eat with me. And most mornings, now that I think about it.”

Hmm. What the hell did that mean? That she didn’t cook for her boyfriend? It was a stupid mystery to try to be solving when he could just be enjoying her company.

“This doesn’t look like our hummus,” Matty said dubiously as he eyed the Tupperware she’d just cracked open. He’d slid up onto one of the chairs at the small breakfast table and was drumming skeptical fingers on the linoleum top.

“It’s homemade,” she replied absently as she fished in one cabinet for pretzels.

Seb’s heart sank. This was where his picky-ass kid was going to turn up his nose at a beautiful woman’s homemade food and make Seb feel like an inept father who stuffed his kid full of mac and cheese.

But then Via did something amazing. At the same second she was selecting a pear from her fruit basket, Via dipped a pretzel in the hummus and just jammed it right in Matty’s mouth. His eyes widened in surprise as much as Seb’s did. And then Matty’s eyes widened even more.

“It’s good.”

“I know,” Via replied from the kitchen sink where she was washing the pear.

Seb slid down next to Matty and tried it. Damn. It was better than good. This Evan asshole better marry Via DeRosa, or he deserved a punch straight in the dick.

Via brought a plate of sliced pears and slid down across from Matty and Seb. Crabby’s tail thumped under the table and she reached down to give him some pets.

Seb watched her while he crunched his pretzels. He saw the toll the day had taken on her. Her wrinkled silk shirt, her lipstick chewed off, the eye makeup slightly smudged over one eye. And that hand, already tipping from dark pink into purple. He wanted to speak to her but didn’t want Matty to overhear. Seb pulled out his phone.

I’m so sorry for what happened today, Via.

She jolted just a little as the text vibrated in her pocket but she ignored it, obviously too polite to answer a text while she had company.

Seb made eyes at her until she got his message and opened her phone. He asked Matty questions about his day at school while she pecked out a one-handed response.

I’m okay, Sebastian. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but his.

He took a deep breath. She was right of course. But still...

I wish I would have intervened sooner. And then you wouldn’t be hurt. Don’t console me. You’re not supposed to console me when you’re the one who left that room with a bruise.

She smirked at him as she read his text.

Then what do you want? Tough love?

God. He wanted any type of love that she would throw his way. If he were a different man, maybe he would have typed that out. But he had a kid chomping pretzels next to him and a dog sleeping on his foot. And she had a boyfriend. And was twenty-seven years old, for fuck’s sake. How many times had he been through this with himself?

Anything to make you feel better.

She frowned down at his text. She sighed and took a big bite of pretzel and hummus, looking out the window. She was tweaking her nose one way and then the other when she finally responded.

Yeah. Worst birthday ever.

“It’s yourbirthday?” He hadn’t meant to speak it out loud but there it was. His stomach gave an almighty flop, like a sea lion on a wet dock. In all his musings over Via DeRosa’s age, it simply hadn’t occurred to him that the woman had birthdays. Dumb but true.

Just because she’s older doesn’t mean she’s old enough, he reminded himself. He’d been clinging so tightly to the number twenty-seven that twenty-eight felt strangely slippery in his mind, like he couldn’t quite pin it to the same bulletin board that her former age had been fastened to.

“Really?” Matty straightened like he’d been electrocuted. At six years old, birthdays were far from routine. In fact, they were pretty much as special as dinosaur sightings.

“Really,” she admitted, pursing her lips together.

“Oh God.” Sebastian face-palmed. “Matty, finish up. We’ve gotta get out of here. I’m sure Miss DeRosa has a fancy dinner or a party or something to go to.”

Via shrugged. “You can stay for a bit. Fin is coming over for dinner, but beyond that, nothing too special. You’re not crashing.”

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